LABOUR Spokesperson on Housing Jan O’Sullivan is encouraging Limerick people to attend the Housing and Homelessness Coalition National Demonstration in Dublin this Saturday, December 1.
“We need large numbers of people on our Capital city streets to keep the current government under pressure to develop the kind of publicly owned and affordable body of housing that is needed in Ireland,” said Deputy O’Sullivan.
The Limerick politician also takes the view that Fine Gael has failed on housing.
“They haven’t introduced a rent register for tenants but will give landlords a tax cut. Their rent pressure zones have been a complete failure but they won’t introduce rent controls for the whole country. They haven’t built nearly enough public housing units, but are happy to sell off public lands to private developers whose sole interest is their own profit margins. Fine Gael seem allergic to publicly owned homes on publicly held lands,” she declared.
Responding to Jan’s comments, Fine Gael Senator for Limerick, Maria Byrne stated: “Deputy O’Sullivan served as a Housing Minister in the last government. I have no doubt she is aware of the complexity of the housing situation in Ireland. I understand she has to distance herself from her former colleagues for electoral gain, but the fact is Labour had the opportunity to join the Government in 2016. Now they look to crib from the side-lines advocating the spending of money that doesn’t exist.”
Senator Byrne continued: “Here in Limerick, Fine Gael in Government under the National Development Plan are providing for continued investment in the Limerick Regeneration Programme which will see the completion of the works identified in the 2013 Limerick Regeneration Framework Implementation Plan, with the delivery of some 400 new homes and the upgrading of 900 homes across the city.
